​Spaniards hold mass rally for leftist Podemos ahead of elections

People fill Madrid's landmark Puerta del Sol as they gather at a rally called by Spain's anti-austerity party Podemos (We Can) January 31, 2015. (Reuters/Sergio Perez) / Reuters

Tens of thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets of central Madrid in support of Podemos, a leftist political party campaigning on an anti-austerity platform. The party’s popularity has soared in the wake of the Syriza victory in Greece.

“We’re sending a message to Europe to Spain. Today is a day
for change. It’s a battle between democracy and austerity, and
democracy will win. We’re not here to protest. We’re here for
change,” he said.

“People are fed up with the political class," Antonia
Fernandez, a 69-year-old pensioner who came to the rally with her
family told Reuters.

Other protesters echoed
discontent with the two mainstream parties.

“This our future. This is what we want. I can’t stand the ruling
People’s Party or the Socialists. I want them to go,” a protestor
told RT.

On Friday, Podemos said
that 260 buses were to bring thousands of supporters from across
Spain to the capital for the rally. Hundreds of locals had signed
on to host the arrivals.

When Iglesias, announced the march last month, he said: “This
is not about asking for anything from the government or
protesting. It’s to say that in 2015 there will be a government
of the people.”

“We want a historic mobilization. We want people to be able
to tell their children and grandchildren: ‘I was at the march on
31 January that launched a new era of political change in
Spain.’”

Spain has officially come out of its six-year recession, though
unemployment remains at a staggering 23.7 percent. However, the
Spanish economy appears to be on an upward trajectory, expanding
at its fastest pace since 2007 in the fourth quarter.

Gross domestic product jumped 0.7 percent from the last quarter,
and 2 percent from the previous year.

“If 2014 was the year of recovery, 2015 will be the year that
the Spanish economy takes off,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
said last month.

Podemos however is banking on the support of a population ravaged
from years of austerity and hope to ride the coattails of
left-wing Syriza’s recent sweeping victory in Greece. And many in
Spain have not seen the signs of these improvements.

Disillusion with the predominantly two-party system and tangible
economic woes have created a political and social landscape for
anti-establishment Podemos to thrive.

In the first six months of 2014 courts approved more than 21,000
home evictions, as the summer of low-paid and short-term
contracts has soared. Meanwhile, several high profile corruption
scandals have tainted the reputations of many of those in power.

In October, dozens of public officials and bureaucrats were
arrested throughout Spain in a massive graft investigation. Some
of those implicated were high-ranking members of Rajoy’s ruling
People’s Party.